  About the Artwork
  
  
  In the coolness of dusk, a woman with an infant asleep on her back and a toddler beside her are about to step into a stream or gully underfoot. The hints of autumnal red in the foliage to the lower left and the trepidation of the little child who clings to her hand suggest that the water will be chilly. One of a set of four paintings all owned by the Detroit Institute of Arts, The Shepherdess is an early work by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, who would go on to become one of the most technically daring painters of the French eighteenth century. This composition highlights the playfulness that characterizes many of his works. The series evokes the progression of the seasons, from the cultivation of a springtime garden to autumn’s impending chill. The paintings were originally intended to adorn the walls of an ornate interior, and their decorative function is emphasized by their curvilinear gilded frames.
  
  
  Title
  The Shepherdess
  
  
  Artwork Date
  between 1754 and 1755
  
  Artist
  Jean Honoré Fragonard
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  1732-1806
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  French
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
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  Medium
  Oil on canvas
  
  
  Dimensions
  Unframed: 58 1/2 × 36 7/8 inches (148.6 × 93.7 cm)
  Framed: 64 3/4 × 42 5/8 × 1 inches (164.5 × 108.3 × 2.5 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  European Painting
  
  
  Credit
  Founders Society Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Horace E. Dodge Memorial Fund
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  71.390
  
  
  Copyright
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